They Said It ....

October 2005

"Kerry are an unbelievable team, the subs they bring on are unreal. It’ll be very tight; we’ve a lot of work to do.”
Tyrone star Eoin Mulligan plays up Kerry ahead of their All-Ireland final meeting

“From a Cork point of view it was very disappointing to lose by such a big margin, but it would be wrong to take the Kerry match in isolation, because we have made definite progress this year. The important thing now for us is to regroup, and I’m firmly convinced that Cork football is on a sound footing, so maybe we can take the process a step or two further next year.”
Cork selector John Corcoran manages to take some positives out of his side’s defeat at the hands of Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final

“Our half-backs weren’t in the game, but again I think that was Kerry tactics. I saw Anthony Lynch trying to come forward at one stage and he had his jersey pulled off the ball. They accuse Armagh of being cynical...,"
Billy Morgan lets off some steam in the aftermath of his side’s loss to the Kingdom in August

“It will be fascinating because obviously there is a contrast in styles between the northern football and southern football, bit it will be a great challenge for both management and players to adapt our game to take them on. We were hurting badly, I suppose, here (Croke Park) for two years in a row, in 2002 and 2003, and while we’re not looking at revenge or anything like that, it’s a kind of redemption in many ways.”
Kerry boss Jack O’Connor admits that it will be an intriguing battle for his side to come up against the best that Ulster can produce in the All-Ireland final

"He was down on the ground injured when the free was awarded and I went up to him and said ’please Peter take it’. I begged him. I knew he was the only man for the job. He said, ’no Mugsy’s alright’ and I just grabbed him and I said ’get up there, Peter.’ I told him it was the last kick of the game and there is no other player in Ireland that I’d have kicking it than Peter Canavan."
Sean Cavanagh explains how he twisted Peter Canavan’s arm to take the match winning free against Armagh

“I’ll make no hasty decisions. You have to look at yourself and say ’do you want to go through it all again?’ I will make that decision in the right time. The County Board and the rest of the management will make that decision together."
Armagh manager Joe Kernan will not be forced into making a quick decision about whether he will continue in the role next year

"There’s a lot of celebration going on and people are very happy - but there’s no cup to show for it. We need to be very careful. We’ve just won an All-Ireland semi-final. Kerry did the same thing a week ago and there wasn’t such celebration. We have to be mindful of the fact we’ve only in an All-Ireland final, we haven’t won one."
Mickey Harte warns Tyrone fans not to get carried away after their semi-final win over Ulster rivals Armagh